Thursday, October 02, 2008

I eat, I shoot, I post with ieat

Miang Khum - awesome appetiser!

I asked local celebrity food blogger, ieat out for lunch. He suggested a Thai eatery called Yellow Light in Katong. I have seen several Thai eateries along the stretch but I couldn't associate this simple shop front to a Thai restaurant. It looks more like a cafe.

I was introduced to Shih Erh, the daughter of the original restaurant owner and chef'. Shih Erh's mother is a Thai, who learnt her popular dishes from her aunt who used to work at the Royal Thai kitchen.

Yellow Light Thai Restaurant started from a humble house in Penang in 1982. It didn't have a signboard, diners identified it by a large, round yellow light in front of it. It didn't have a licence to operate but diners didn't care, they were attracted to its fine, authentic Thai fare.

ieat at work

Shih Erh learnt to cook the dishes from her mother. We were served several new dishes that aren't available at regular Thai restaurants.

Miang Khum, is a typical Thai dish. Having tried betel leaves in Taipei, I was hesitant when this dish was brought out. Bits of peanuts, dried shrimp (hae bee), grated and roasted coconut, bird's eye chilli, lime cubes, shallots are wrapped in a fresh betel leaf and drizzled with a dark and sticky-sweet sauce. You popped the whole thing into your mouth. There was an amazing burst of flavours when you chew it. Very special dish - must try.

When the fried rice with shrimp paste was mentioned, I wasn't interested. Shih Erh persuaded us to try it. It is served with a variety of condiments, omelette strips, seasoned pork, mango strips, prawns and dried shrimps. You mixed them up and viola! It is a refreshing dish. A little sweet but I like it.

Shi Erh kindly brought out a special dish (her private collection, hehe...) which is commonly eaten by Nonyas in Penang. It's fermented fish belly with different leaves of herbs. How does it taste? Look at ieat's facial expression. hahaha.....

The doctor seemed to be in agony...

I have tried a 10th-grade smelly tofu, so this foul-tasting dish was not a problem. It goes well with plain rice. It used to be a poor man's dish, now it is a rare dish.

We had a bowl of Thap Thim Krawp (red rubies) each for dessert. It's water chestnut and jackfruit in iced coconut syrup. Sweet and the coconut syrup is thick.

It was a lovely long lunch, due to the torrential rain outside. By the time I leave the eatery, it was time to head home to prepare dinner. :)

Wow, sounds like a great long lunch. sometimes there is nothign liek it and the food looks fantastic. I am now hungry. I am going to Thailand in about 6 weeks now. Cannot wait and am going to do a Thai cooking course.

This looks like a pretty good lunch with a well-known foodie. I may not have even considered walking into Yellow Light, because from the photo in your post, it looks like a cafe. But then again, I could consider Yellow Light as a choice if I would like Thai food that next time I visit Katong area.

Do you have to be very patient to wait for dear doc to take photos of the food? ;)

oceanskies,I would love to invite you for a meal here. I like some of the dishes. I want you to taste them too. They are not too spicy, nor overpowering ... the appetiser is a must try. A good food experience with the foodie. :)

The Doctor is quite fast, I didn't have to wait long to dig in the food. In fact he was so fast, I didn't have time to take many pictures of him at work. :(

I love Thai ! we have a very good restaurant near my home and on special occasion we are going there. It's really good and apparently not "europeanized" as it's very often done. In London too there were quite a lot of them.

Gattina,Another Thai food lover! That's lovely that you have a good restaurant that serves Thai food nearby. And serving traditional Thai fare without having it turn into fusion stuff is a great way to taste the food. :)

Hey, been busy preparing my kids for final Yr Exams and N/Os on top of shuttling to the new pad to inspect/receive arrivals of gadgets etc. Thus my irregular presence here now. I've not moved in yet. I want to sue my contractor for delays (almost 2 weeks!) but I'm too broke. Just dropping this quickie b4 I resume work again. I'll be learning to cook again when I move in so will depend on ple like u to give tips to nice food ya?